Preparing A Successful First Regional Contest

Tom CaPaul, RCD Pacific NW Region (British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, North Idaho, Northern California,

Hawaii)

Sallie Henry

Background

• Tom Capaul, MSo RCD Pacific NW Region 2011-Presento ACM-ICPC coach since 2000, PacNW Head Judge from 2004-

2010, 2012o Sr. Lecturer in Computer Science at Eastern Washington

Universityo tcapaul@gmail.com or tcapaul@ewu.edu or

director@acmicpc-pacnw.orgo Host multiple local contests yearly with schools in the area as

well as with schools from afaro Had a Senior Project/Capstone team add a web interface for

team client to the PC^2 contest software (http://www.ecs.csus.edu/pc2/ ) – the web interface will (hopefully) be available in an upcoming version of PC^2

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Who’s Who

• Bill Poucher – ICPC Executive Director, aka, “Head Honcho”

• Marsha Poucher – Contest Manager, helps with almost everything

• James Comer – Director-Regional Contests, deals with all problems

• John Clevenger – Director-Contest Systems (also head of PC2 Contest Software Team)

• Debbie Kilbride – IBM liaison – provides funding for the contests (prizes, software, etc.)

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Types of Contests

• Single site – all teams come to one site on the same day

• Multi-site/Single-day – several contests within one region happening at the same time. Scores are merged and listed as one site. My region does this.

• Multi-site/Multi-day – several sites hold the contest on different dates with different problems. Scores are merged at the end, just like multi-site/single day sites.

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Types of Contests (cont’d)

• Tiered – preliminary contest(s) followed by final contest, with only selected teams moving on to the next tier. Each Tier could be single site or multi-site.

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Types of Judging

• Single site – the only decision is to use automated judging or humans.

• Multi-site – three choices:o Automatedo Human centralized: judges are physically at one site, problems

submitted via internet (we use this choice for our PacNW contest)

o Human localized: judges may be at multiple sites A difficulty here is to make sure all judges are returning the

same judgments – requires lots of phone/IM

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Which Contest Model?

• Which contest model is right for your region?

• Many factors:o History – how has it been done in the past?o Geographic distribution of teams – are most of your teams

within 2-3 hour drive?o Volunteer sites – multi-site contests need multiple host schools

(it can be *challenging* to get schools to host)

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Which Contest Model? (cont’d)

• Single site regionals are the easiest to manage.

• Multi-site contests add a *huge* amount of overhead. Instead of managing one contest, you are managing a contest at each distributed site.

• Multi-day and tiered contests also require more management.

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First DecisionsSelect contest date(s)

• All regionals must be completed by mid-November (date is provided in RCD notebook)

• Try to avoid holidays• Other conflicts:

o If held at a university, sports events may cause traffic/parking/hotel problems

o Standardized tests – e.g. the Comp Sci GRE in US (usually held in November)

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First DecisionsHow many teams will you allow?

• Allow as many universities as you possibly can• Allow as many teams as you possibly can

o Space limitations may require a limit, e.g. allow n teams from each school, and if space allows, start adding the n+1 teams (in order of application)

• Important Note: Teams may only compete in ONE region

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First DecisionsMulti-site Contests: How many sites?

• Each site should have a relatively large number of teams (no less than 20) or you do not need that site.

• Exceptions: o Travel difficulties – e.g. time of year, distance (Hawaii

is one the locations in my region)o Visa problems if contest crosses international

boundaries (this is the case in my region)

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First DecisionsHardware / Software Selection

• What languages will you allow? World Finals supports C, C++, and Java. You must decide if it makes sense for your region to allow languages other than those.

• What hardware/OS will each site have (consistency is very important – teams will want to know these details)?

• What software will you use for running the contest?o PC2 o “home grown”o Kattis

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Key PeopleRegional Director (YOU)

• Responsible foro Selection of contest date (other factors)o Selection of software and systemo Recruiting volunteer siteso Budgeto Registrationo Ordering plaques, prizes (if you do this), gifts, t-

shirts?o Make schedule for contest dayo Overall success of the contesto DELEGATE where possible!

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Key PeopleSite Director(s)

• The person who will handle local set-up at each site• Successful coaches often make good site directors

o Provide a guide book for them, if possible (see the one for my region at: http://www.acmicpc-pacnw.org/SiteDirGuide.htm

• Must be someone willing to commit to “doing a good job”

• Responsibilities may includeo Selection of local judge(s)o Selection of local system person(s)o Local arrangements (contest room, meeting hall, catering, t-shirts,

balloons and helium, print materials, etc.)o Recruitment of volunteers (balloon runners, registrar, etc.)o Web site for his/her contest site (should contain itinerary, map,

parking information, etc.)

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Key PeopleHead Judge

• Person who understands the contest• Person who can commit to the time required• Best if this person accepts multi-year commitment: consistency is key• Can use someone from industry or academia

o Some regions prefer not to use current coaches to avoid conflict of interest

o However, many regions do and have had no issues• Responsible (with other judges) for:

o Writing the problem specification (clear)o Writing the test data (clean and robust)o Writing the solutions (in all languages your contest

will support)o Final authority on judging decisions during the contest

• Must be on site for the actual contest

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Key PeopleProblem Writers/Judges

• These people assist the head judge in preparing the problem set:o Writing problem statementso Solving problemso Verifying I/O

• It helps if the judge staff do the problem writing, so they are familiar with each problem when judging

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Key PeopleRegional Systems Administrator

• Especially critical for multi-site contests o Responsibilities may include

Setting up PC^2 (or whatever contest software you are using)

Configuring team and judge computers Performing a test contest

Preferably 2 weeks prior to contest date Tests connectivity and software

Must be available for the actual contest Overseeing system preparations at all contest sites

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Key People At Each SiteOn-site Registrar

• Often ACM club volunteer• Registers teams on site on contest day:

o Prints and gives certificates, badges and t-shirts to each team

o May or may not take fees – this is up to you as to when/if you require fees

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Key People At Each SiteLocal System Administrator

• Communicates with Regional Systems Person• Responsibilities include

o Setting up contest system at the siteo Being present for test contesto Being present at site on contest date (to help with any systems

problems)o This person plays a key role as s/he may need interact with IT

department at that site to get ports opened for testing and the day of the contest

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Communication Lines

Reg.Dir

HeadJudge

Site Dir

RegionalSys-Ad

LocalArrang

AsstJudge

Local Judge

LocalArrang

LocalSys-Ad

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Other RCD DutiesContest Registration

• Coaches register teams on acm-icpc web site • You (or someone) mark teams as approved/paid• You determine registration costs and payment

methodso You can require pre-pay, or accept payment on the day of the

contest (this may be harder for multi-site contests)o You MUST provide receipts for paymento You may want to recruit a central registrar to handle all of the

registration duties (marking teams approved, writing up receipts, mailing receipts, doing bank deposits, etc) – This should be someone you TRUST!!

o Our region (PacNW) has added PayPal support so schools can pay online (response has been overwhelmingly positive!)

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Other RCD DutiesProblem Set

• Goals for the problem set:o 6-10+ problemso Every team should solve at least one problem*o No team should solve all problemso Each problem should be solved by a team

• Each problem should have been solved by the problem writers in every language your contest allows (preferably by different people)

• The judge data and solution for each problem should be verified by more than one person

• ICPC may want your problems, I/O, and solutions after your contest is done, so be prepared to send those items their way (they post the problems online and students can solve those problems via the online judge)

*harder than you think!

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Other RCD DutiesTest Contest

• Used to find any problems: firewalls, software versions, etc. so you have time to correct them before the actual contest

• About 2-4 weeks before the contest• “Mock contest”: submit problems,

clarifications, judgments• Each site should have at least 2 team

machines (central judging site needs at least 2 judge machines)

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Other IssuesFairness

• Make sure all computers at all sites (including judges) have equivalent hardware (judge hardware can be better)

• For multi-site contests, if one site doesn’t have room for all 3 team members at a machine, then you must decide whether all sites must limit access, as well. (Note: Use nearby classrooms for team members doing desk work.)

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Other IssuesSecurity

• Physical security for problem set – both electronic and print• Physically separate rooms for judges, systems, teams, coaches

– no mingling!• No electronics allowed (cell phones, scientific calculators,

tablets, etc.)• Staff Required: print runners, bathroom escorts/monitors,

balloon runners (if used)• Only balloon runners, print runners and systems personnel are

allowed in contest room• T-shirts or Badges – separate colors to identify, e.g.:

o White – teamso Purple – coacheso Orange – staffo Blue – “special people”

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Other IssuesT-shirts

• Need *at least* 2 weeks time for t-shirt makers (don't forget about time to ship to location)

• Need shirts for teams, judges, systems team, other staff/volunteers

• Teams fill out sizes at the online site (though many teams don’t, which is problematic: decide what the “default” size will be if none is provided)

• For multi-site contests, need to mail out t-shirt at least a week before the contest (OR have each site order own t-shirts, they can get shirt sizes from web site)

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Other IssuesContest Web Site

• Obviously, you should have a regional contest web site

• For multi-site contests, each local site should have a web site with information such as:o Directionso Parkingo Hotelso Contest Day Itinerary

• All sites for the contest should contain an itinerary of events if at all possible

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Other IssuesMiscellaneous

• Parking – should post info on local site web site and post signs for the contest

• Signage to help teams find the building/room where contest is

• Publicity for contest (TV, newspapers)• Announcements of winners• For multi-site contests, visit remote sites, if

possibleo Helps to know the people thereo View contest areas to ensure suitability

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Budget

• Start up a checking accounto Allows you to keep track of paid registrationso Allows you to keep track of expenses

• Registration fees are added to the IBM funding to cover entire cost of contest.o Keep as low as possible, but make sure you can pay for

everything you want at your contesto Some regions allow each site to determine the registration fee

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Budget

• For multi-site contests, decide how much to allocate to the sites – based on the number of teams

• Plan on paying for travel (hotel, food) for the head judge and judge team. It is important that they are on site.

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Budget

• Other expenses (they add up!):o Printing costso Food/drinko Balloons/helium/ribbono T-shirtso Prizes/giftso Travel

To contest site To next RCD Symposium (If you can not make it to the next

RCD Symposium, please send a representative in your place)

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Sample Schedule (Single Day)

• 8:00 – 9:00 – registration (give out badges, t-shirts, etc.).

• 9:00 – 10:00 – Orientation/rules briefing• 10:00-11:00 – Practice contest (this is a practice

for judges, too!)• 11:00-12:00 – De-briefing, Q&A, systems-reset

(clear all computers)• 12:00-5:00 – Actual contest (lunch served during

contest)• 6:00 – Awards party (banquet/pizza)

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Sample Schedule (Multi-day)

• Friday:4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Registration7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – Practice contest 8:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. – Pizza Party and Q&A• Saturday:

6:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Breakfast9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. – Line-up for contest10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. – Actual contest (lunch served during contest)4:00 p.m. – Dinner Banquet and Awards

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Questions

Resources

• Tom CaPaul: tcapaul@gmail.com, tcapaul@ewu.edu, or director@acmicpc-pacnw.org

• PacNW ICPC site:

– http://www.acmicpc-pacnw.org/– Slides of this presentation can be found at the PacNW

ICPC site! If that’s a bit of a bother, just email me and I will send them your way.

• Спасибо! (Spasibo!) – Thank you